THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



157 



COMPLIMEXTARY. 



We have good cause to be gratified at the 

 many complimentary notices which our little 

 Journal receives, and though, as before stated, 

 it is of course exceedingly distressing to our 

 modesty to dwell upon such subjects, yet we 

 cannot refrain from laying before our readers 

 the two following items which indicate the 

 opinions of those who are thoroughly competent 

 to judge : 



Horticultural Periodicals.— After speak- 

 ing of the inestimable value of the periodicals 

 devoted to horticulture and kindred subjects, 

 and referring particularly to the Horticnlturist, 

 of New York, Gardeners' Monthly, of Philadel- 

 phia, and American Jovrnal of Horticulture, of 

 Boston, he said: 



"Among all the periodicals, however, there is 

 none more absolutely necessary to the gardener 

 and farmer than the American Entomolooist, 

 published at St. Louis, Mo., and edited by the 

 Entomologist of that State. From the very 

 practical pages of this journal we may gather 

 hints of the greatest value. This paper is the 

 more valuable and essential to us from the fact 

 that it is the only one of the kind in the coun- 

 try, and because we have no oflScer in our own 

 State whose duty it should be to supply the 

 needful information to enable us to counter- 

 work our insect enemies, and to protect our- 

 selves from their terrible ravages." 



[From the VVcstcra Rural.] 



Useful Reading.— During the long nights of 

 winter a great deal of very valuable information 

 may be obtained from standard works on Hor- 

 ticulture, Entomology, etc. Every farmer's 

 library should contain standard works on sub- 

 jects connected with agriculture and horticul- 

 ture. There are several very useful books 

 published on Pomology, Grape Culture, Small 

 Fruit, etc. The American Entomologist eon- 

 tains a large amount of irfformation about the 

 habits of predatory insects, and the various 

 modes of destroying them, or preventing their 

 ii.crease. It should be in the hands of every 

 farmer and fruit-grower. The precepts learned 

 by the attentive study of the best authors, may 

 have a very beneticia'l effect when carried into 

 practice in the orchard or garden, at the right 

 time. The damage done annually to ♦ruit by 

 predatory insects is incalculable. 



Gapes in Fowls. — Much -has been written 

 and much is being written about "Gapes in 

 Fowls." Young chickens, especially when they 

 are two or three weeks old, are quite subject to 

 this disease, and if one that has died of it, be 

 examined, several small red worms one-half or 

 three-quarters of an inch in length, and as large 

 as a common sized pin, will be found in the 

 trachea. Some of our subscribers seem to have 

 been sorely puzzled by the contradictory state- 



ments found in the ditTcrent agricultural papers, 

 and appeal to us for information under the sup- 

 position that these worms are insects. Thus, 

 speaking of these parasites, Mr. Jas. H. Parsons, 

 of Franklin, N. Y., writes: 



"The only theory I have ever seen advanced 

 is that these worms when mature, crawl out of 

 the windpipe, burrow in the earth, change to 

 flies, and then couple and lay their eggs in the 

 nostrils of the chick. The theory is plausible, 

 but whether it has any facts to support it is 

 more than I know. I wish you would solve 

 the problem of the cause and cure of these 

 Gapes." 



Again, Thos. AV. Gordon, of Georgetown, 

 Ohio, writes: 



"Do Gapes in chickens depend upon small 

 worms in the trachea? If so, to wlial species 

 do they belong? What is tln'ir (niiiiii, and 

 what is the best known moans dt il,-~ii(iying 

 thoin .'111(1 savino- the fmvls? FaniH/rs here say 



fliiiial. anil that tlii'x li nlicildcd in mucus, 



and I he cliickens can In- saved liy removing the 

 worms with a horse hair, a stalk of grass, or a 

 small wire; but there are none who seem to 

 be certain of the source of these little destruc- 

 tive pests." 



Again, some persons believe the "Gapes" 

 to be caused by the larvfe of insects in the lungs, 

 as the following, from Milton Conard, of West 

 Grove, Pa., will show: 



" I have bv a post mortem examination ascer- 

 tained (hat '\\\o 'tJaiies' ill rliirkens are occa- 

 .siiiiied li\ Ihe /(//■(•'( ..r an in-ed in-i'\ iiig upon 



eluded that the sjia-iiis. iiTuied • the Gapes,' 

 result fi'oni the effort of the worm or maggot to 

 escape to the ground, having completed this 

 first period of its existence in the chicken's 

 lungs, where it did much harm to the delicate 

 structure of this important organ. And in 

 tracing the track of these unfeeling parasites 

 through the body of the lung, I think I dis- 

 covered that it originated right opposite the 

 bone cavity under the wing, where there is only 

 a thin membranous partition between the lung 

 and the outer air; and my inference is, that the 

 insect (probably winged), by instinct, seeks 

 this point, as affording the means of easily 

 depositing its eggs in the lungs. Now, what 

 I want to know is, what is the character or 

 description of the perfect insect? Is it described 

 in any of the books?" 



The worm which causes " Gapes," like that 

 large species {Strongylus gigas) which is known 

 to inhabitthe kidneys of swine, and even some- 

 times finds its way into the same organ in man, 

 belongs to the Entozoa {entos, within, and zoon, 

 an animal), a class of animals included in the 

 fourth great Branch or Division of the Animal 

 Kingdom, known as Star-animals (Radiata). 

 Therefore, since they do not even belong to 

 the same Branch (Articulata) with insects, 

 they do not, strictly speaking, come within our 



